There’s about 5,000 reasons. One for every dollar that NRS is putting up as an expedition prize to help realize one worthy everyday paddler’s trip of a lifetime. To sweeten the deal, NRS is also offering $5,000 in head-to-toe expedition paddling gear for the winning entry.

So make your dream trip known! From the backyard bucket list venture that’s always escaped you to the limit-testing experience at the ends of the earth. Let us know. Make your case. Tell us why your trip matters.

You never know what kind of idea sparked from the back of a napkin will catch fire once there’s a little money to fan the flames.

Evan Garcia was the next paddler to take advantage of a C&K grant-expedition prize, claiming a $10,000 winner-take-all award of the 2016 Dream Adventure Contest presented by NEXEN Tire. Garcia organized a team of some of the world’s best kayakers to mount a trip in Chile to descend three of the Patagonia region’s toughest wilderness rivers, from source to sea. (Read more about Garcia’s Patagonia Triple Crown dream adventure.)